From blood-colored waterfalls to mysterious underground lakes, Antarctica holds secrets that challenge our understanding of Earth's southernmost continent. Join us as we explore the most enigmatic and unsettling phenomena from this frozen wasteland that continue to puzzle scientists and explorers alike.
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00:00With each new core, we gain new knowledge about a continent that's always been shrouded in mystery.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the stranger phenomena or mysteries involving the desolate, icy desert that is Antarctica.
00:16Does it reveal not only that there are highly advanced beings living inside the Earth, but also that they are monitoring what happens on the surface?
00:26Number 10. The Third Man Factor
00:29We're cheating a little here, as this occurred in South Georgia, which is technically just north of Antarctica.
00:43During the last of three Antarctic expeditions between 1914 and 1917, Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew became trapped in ice for two years.
00:53During a particular 36 march, Shackleton reported that he felt, according to his found journals, that there was an extra, unseen crew member among them, encouraging them to carry on.
01:04We had a slight shock last night. There was a noise under the bottom aft, the same as if the ice had broken up. The boss thinks it was a whale, but I think's different.
01:13Other explorers and climbers, as well as ships' crews, subsequently reported similar experiences. These are often voices of encouragement or comforting presences.
01:24Psychologists now consider this to be the result of trauma, the inner creation of a soothing companion to help guide you through dark times.
01:32It's an unsettling concept, nonetheless.
01:35Overwhelmed by misery and fear, some of the man broke down and wept.
01:39Number 9. Underground Lakes
01:41In December, a British team led by Professor Siegert is going here to Lake Ellsworth in West Antarctica to probe its depths for life.
01:51Antarctica is home to a number of subglacial lakes, with 675 identified so far.
01:57The largest of these lakes is Lake Vostok, housed under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is approximately 1.4 miles thick.
02:05Lake Vostok's freshwater is said to have been enclosed for around 15 to 25 million years, conserving a possible array of unknown species.
02:15Shockingly, these are considered remnants of the early-ish Cenozoic period, in which we are presently.
02:22It dates back from 66 million years ago to present.
02:25The Cenozoic period brought with it insects, birds, and mammals, among other things.
02:30That means that beneath the ice, there may lie a variety of strange, perhaps frightening beings we can only theorize about.
02:37We don't know the forms, we don't know the mechanism of adaptation.
02:42And now that scientists have reached Lake Vostok, exploring it should keep them busy for decades to come.
02:48Number 8. Possible Civilizations
02:50Ancient maps have been discovered which correctly depict the continent of Antarctica centuries before it was discovered by Europeans.
02:58The possibility of civilizations in the Antarctic region seems unimaginable.
03:03However, there are some who believe it possible.
03:05The only piece of evidence indicating the presence of a settlement in Antarctica is a hand-drawn map by Ottoman cartographer and Admiral Piri Reis in 1513.
03:15The partial map was discovered in 1929 and further studied by a retired U.S. Navy admiral in the 1950s, among others.
03:23The clearest deduction of all is that whoever drew up those original source maps thousands of years ago had a level of technology as high as our own.
03:32Some theorize that the map depicts an ice-free Antarctica, which is heavily disputed.
03:37Others theorize that Atlantis was once thriving in Antarctica before it was covered with ice.
03:43Again, this is all heavily disputed by a number of scientists and experts, but you can't deny the eeriness of an entire civilization encased in kilometers of ice.
03:52The Polynesian people's stories describe this strange land with these white rocks that come out of the water, which are icebergs and other creatures such as seals and penguins.
04:07Number 7. Fata Morgana
04:09So is Guillermo a trickster? Or is science behind this bafflingly buoyant boat?
04:14Fata Morgana is a fancy name for mirage. We're accustomed to seeing or associating mirages with heat, as in deserts or hot roads in the summertime.
04:23However, they do occur in conditions of extreme cold. They're caused by rays of light bending through layers of differing temperatures.
04:30In Antarctica, mirages are fairly common, but that doesn't make them any less unsettling.
04:35Anything visible that isn't really there is normally the premise for horror films, right?
04:47One Navy admiral recalled seeing a mountain peak appear and disappear into the ether, growing taller with each reappearance.
04:56There's a fantastical element to such phenomena, an almost dreamlike wonder.
05:00Where's the mountains?
05:05Those aren't mountains.
05:08Naturally, there's also the tinfoil hat side, that suggests mirages are actually disappearing UFOs. Thoughts?
05:15Number 6. Dead Bodies
05:17The oldest remnants found in the frozen continent are believed to be around 175 years old, a skull and femur belonging to a Chilean woman in her 20s.
05:27Chile is more than 600 miles away from the location of the bones, which raises many unanswered questions.
05:33British explorer Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 expedition to Antarctica became stranded in blizzards and harsh conditions.
05:41We took risks. We knew we took them. Things have come out against us.
05:47One member, Lawrence Oates, left the tent and never returned, believing himself to be a burden.
05:52In 1982, three explorers were stranded on an island after the ice they had crossed over became unstable.
06:00The men were visible by telescope, but unreachable. They perished. Their bodies never found.
06:05There are, of course, many other stories of dead bodies who are likely lost forever.
06:10Number 5.
06:11The Maudrise Polonia
06:13It's amazing. This is an ice world that's changed into a non-ice world.
06:18For the past 50 years, a large hole has formed and reclosed occasionally in Antarctica's Weddell Sea.
06:25The hole was last described as being the size of Switzerland, and was a mystery to scientists until recently.
06:32It's called the Maudrise Polonia. A polonia is open water surrounded by ice.
06:37And it baffled scientists since it was first noticed in the 1970s, until around 2017, when an explanation was proposed.
06:45The rift, when present, sits atop Maudrise, an underwater mountain.
06:50The explanation for its formation isn't as fantastical as we'd probably like.
06:54It has to do with changes in the ocean's currents, among other things.
06:58But a large, country-sized hole in the ice, leading to the blackest depths of nowhere, is definitely unsettling.
07:05Number 4.
07:06A Song of Ice
07:07No one has ever drilled through an ice shelf.
07:10And they present these challenges.
07:11The ice shelves, they float up and down with the tide.
07:15The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest of its kind.
07:18A body of ice that rises up to 200 feet and stretches about 500 miles in length.
07:23It sits in the Ross Sea, a landmark for explorers.
07:26Oh, and it sings.
07:29In the mid-to-late 2010s, scientists made an interesting, albeit kind of eerie, discovery.
07:34I keep saying in my head, everything will be fine, don't worry about it.
07:37But it's not you that makes the decisions here, it's intact again.
07:40After performing seismic research on the structure, it was found that the top layer of the ice shelf
07:46is constantly vibrating due to shifts in weather.
07:49This vibration creates a low hum, inaudible to the human ear at only 5 hertz.
07:54The tune of this affectionately named song varies slightly with changes in temperatures and conditions.
08:00A lonely, icy wasteland with its own secret theme song.
08:07Sounds a bit like a didgeridoo.
08:09It's got a very interesting tone to it.
08:12Number 3.
08:13Unusual Creatures
08:14Antarctica is home to over 230 species of wildlife.
08:18Some are easily recognizable, emperor penguins, elephant seals, and hourglass dolphins.
08:25Others are a little more off-putting, mainly the species found underwater.
08:29Recently discovered in 2005, the yeti crab is a type of squat crustacean, meaning it has flattened vertebrae.
08:36One researcher says the temperature of the water near the Antarctic vents
08:40is comparable to water found in the warm tropics.
08:43They are hairy, covered in bristles that enable them to gather and consume bacteria.
08:48They have an uncanny resemblance to a facehugger wearing furry chaps.
08:52Appropriately named icefish are very prominent in Antarctic waters,
08:56with a recent discovery finding 60 million nests in the depths.
09:01The male yeti crabs are larger than females, and stay closest to the vents,
09:06to apparently feed on communities of bacteria on their hairlined bellies.
09:10Oh, and they have colorless blood, so that's creepy.
09:14Toothfish are another staple of the frigid waters.
09:17Their bodies contain a sort of antifreeze, which prevents their blood from freezing.
09:21Handy.
09:22Number 2.
09:23Nazis, aliens, and the lost city of Atlantis.
09:27What the hell?
09:28Antarctica is a fertile breeding ground for conspiracy theories.
09:42We've already mentioned the belief that Atlantis lies beneath the ice.
09:45Others believe it was once inhabited by aliens,
09:48and have claimed multiple UFO sightings, either in person or on Google Earth.
09:52The whole crew saw a whole bunch of silver darting objects, and they are round.
10:00And he says they're doing the strangest thing.
10:02There's also talk of a secret Nazi base in Antarctica, though this is highly debated.
10:08Hitler did send an expedition to claim a part of the continent for German whaling,
10:12but the project was never completed.
10:14Regardless, some believe that a secret bunker was established,
10:17and that escaping perpetrators took refuge there after the war, perhaps even Hitler himself.
10:23This belief was reignited in 2023,
10:25when Google Earth sleuths found what appeared to be a hidden entrance in an ice shelf.
10:30Where's the door?
10:32Well, it's the rectangular thing we're looking at.
10:34What do you mean, where's the door?
10:35Okay, okay.
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10:52Number 1. Blood Falls
10:54So we're trying to figure out what the cycle is,
10:57and whether it's connected to seasonality,
10:59whether it's connected to maybe even windstorms.
11:02Blood Falls is a cheerful attraction in East Antarctica,
11:06sporadically flowing from ice fissures into West Lake Bonney.
11:09We'll leave the complex scientific research up to you,
11:12but the main reason for this chilling site is water rich in iron.
11:17Boring science facts aside,
11:19an unpredictable flow of blood-like water coming from underneath the icy landscape
11:23is pretty unsettling.
11:25When flowing, the water remains liquid due to its hypersalination.
11:29So this is running water.
11:30That's actually the blood falls, actually flowing.
11:33I don't know.
11:33We'll see.
11:34Let's go find out.
11:34Which lowers the freezing point.
11:36The flow is mostly present in winter, which puzzles researchers.
11:40Oh, and on top of that, the blood water contains life.
11:44Microorganisms that feed on its components.
11:47A microscopic life-riddled blood waterfall.
11:50Not creepy at all.
11:51You'll notice that a lot of the rocks are dyed a dark red color.
11:55And that's because there's iron in those rocks,
11:57and that iron oxidizes or rusts.
12:00Which of these do you find the most intriguing?
12:02Let us know in the comments.
12:04Whenever there's a pressure change by a movement of the glacier,
12:07something happens.
12:08And sometimes blood falls, squirts out.
12:11Sometimes it doesn't.
12:12There's a pressure change.
12:34And there's a pressure change.
12:34There's a pressure change.
12:34I don't know.
12:35There's a pressure change.
12:36And then there's some pressure change.